Dispatches: Fashion's Dirty Secret

Peek inside the average woman's wardrobe and it will be packed full of trendy high street clothes emulating the latest catwalk fashion - all bought at just a fraction of the price. My wardrobe is no different. A pair of £7 skinny jeans, t-shirts that cost no more than a few quid and a favourite dress which I grabbed for just under a tenner. High street fashion is in its heyday because now we can all have the latest designer trends at bargain prices.

But what's the real cost? Dispatches has discovered that fashion has a dirty secret - there's a hidden cost to cheap clothes and it's a human one.

Ethical Trade Initiative

Good video on what ethical trade initiative have achieved...

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

This is perhaps the smartest piece of CSR I've ever seen.

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is almost scarily good as it picked up so well on the recent backlash against advertising in fashion and cosmetics retail. The idea of women feeling good about their body whether they're fat,thin,young or old was quite revolutionary as it totally subverted all the other messages coming from advertising - which usually promoted the idea of the comsumers imperfection.

Taking responsibility for the messages they send out as a company - messages that are easily picked up by young girls - is another form of CSR.

British American Tobacco Held Responsible

“If they have 15% of the world market then they are responsible for 15% of the world's tobacco deaths, three quarters of a million deaths every year.”

On Ash.org.uk


These activist are out to make British American Tobacco responsible for the impact that their products have.

This is a perfect example of how consumers and activits are beginning to question the operations of companies they feel are having a negative impact on the world.

Starbucks: "Origin Tour"

Starbucks take their baristas to the plantations - on Guardian.com

This could be good for our case study?!

Starbucks are now taking their metropolitan 1st world staff to work on the coffee plantations in the 3rd world - no doubt as part of their CSR programme.

Is this just a shameless PR stunt or will it actually make a difference. This article seems to suggest the latter - by making human connections and relationships staff in coffee shops of the US and Europe will hopefully stand up for their coffee growing comrades and develop a culture of "fairness".

Ethical Consumerism

Ethical Consumerism @ Guardian.co.uk

When considering CSR we should probably also consider the phenomenon of "ethical consumption" - the idea that the consumer can act ethically with the choices of products and services they pay for. It is, of course, the spread of this idea in the minds of the consuming masses that makes CSR such a hot topic for companies.

The idea of "ethical consumption", although great at face-value, is, of course, highly criticised for justifying consumption at existing levels.

The Corporation

Ok...I guess if we're going to try and understand the complexities of "corporate social responsibility" we should probably know what a corporation is first.

This documentary looks really interesting - breaking down how coporations function and the impact they have.

Above is the trailer. Below is the first chapter. All other chapters are avaiable on YouTube.

I'm going to get watching now!

CSR debate

CSR WEBCAST

Fenton’s CSR team recently hosted a spirited and provocative debate featuring Professor Aneel Karnani, author of the controversial Wall Street Journal OpEd on Corporate Social Responsibility published on August 23rd. In addition to Dr. Karnani, the panel showcased eight other professionals (full list below), each providing an unique perspective on the state of CSR in business today.

Interesting video but a tad long!

Fenton CSR Webcast from Fenton on Vimeo.

Should the Government create a CSR ranking system?

CSR Rankings war...



Came across this 100 best corporate citizens ranking table that's been produced to highlight a company's overall responsibility to the community. Looking further at some of the companies its interesting to see how they can receive a "yellow card" but still stay on the same ranking score.

But whats to say that these companies actually follow everything they preach!

CSR needs a leader.

http://www.thecro.com/files/CR100Best.pdf

The rhetoric of corporate social responsibility outweighs the reality

"The rhetoric of corporate social responsibility outweighs the reality" Guardian.com

Found this article from the guardian on the development aspects of CSR. Its interesting to get another opinion on how CSR is still only seen as a marketing ploy.

One quote from the guardian was:

"At the moment, CSR-driven schemes are simply not proportionate to the value these companies extract from Africa and Asia.!

Maybe we do need that goverment legislation to help support this!!

First Tragedy, Then Farce

"First Tragedy, Then Farce" by fantastic contemporary philosopher Slavoy Zizek.

An important, if slightly grueling, introduction to the ethics of CSR.